Bad Faith
by badfaith
Summary: Draco Malfoy has always lied. Certain circumstances make him pour out his heart and soul in a way he never thought possible to the one person he always thought he’d hate.
1. Prologue

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Title: Bad Faith  
**Chapter:** Prologue/?  
**Author name:** badfaith  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

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Author website: http://www.undisgusied.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R  
**Summary:** Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

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Warning: This story contains slash, which is a boy-boy relationship. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime.

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Prologue

He was swallowed by the swirling black hole. Enveloped -- taken. Looking around, he sensed instead of saw it. It was a rich, ebony color, everywhere, swirling around, caressing his body. He treated it as a long lost lover, embracing the darkness. That sweet, sweet darkness of abandonment -- luscious freedom for his soul and mind. Feeling the black darkness, in his mind came a memory, so blinding, sterilizing, perfect white. No stains.

He despised it. Turning from the light of that memory, he embraced the darkness again, and felt that instead of being, the dark was. The black was consisting of all the stains that his blinding white memory couldn't have, and instead of being destroyed by the stains, the darkness became the stains. Black was his life, stains, his life darkness. He was glad. He wouldn't have to hide anymore. He was free. The black darkness was the world he lived in, he was the darkness, and the endless black was himself.

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	2. Footfalls on the Stone Stairs

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Title: Bad Faith  
**Author name:** badfaith  
**Chapter: **1/?

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Author email: anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

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Author website: http://www.undisguised.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R  
**Summary:** Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry James Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which is a boy-boy relationship. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime.

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Chapter One 

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Footfalls On The Stone Stairs

The boy was sixteen, almost a man, yet still hanging on to the refuge of angelic innocence left by childhood. He was all filth and black dirt now, but his porcelain white skin, and his fair hair, whispered silver by some, unnatural they called it, still shone out from the grime he was covered in. The filth covering him consisted of several elements -- mud dirt, dust, blood, and a number of other foul wastes. Instead of whimpering, crying or calling out for help, he just sat there, hugging his knees for support, with his head buried in them. His fine blond hair splayed across his arms, and over his forehead.  
  
Far off in the distance the echo of a door slamming shut pricked up the boys' ears. Momentarily curious, he lifted his head from his knees, revealing a face not even recognizable by the unwashed boy. Too tired to stand up, and too broken to care anymore, he let his head loll back into its' previous position. After a few moments loud footfalls could be heard coming swiftly down a staircase to the hallway where the cell presided. In seconds, a tall figure plunged the cell into complete darkness, blocking off the meager supply of filtered yellow light from the hallway outside.  
  
"Get up, boy. Stop sniveling. We have important guests coming. I expect you to be presentable and down in my study by seven o'clock sharp. If you aren't, expect another beating, Draco." A cold, low voice reported to the hunched figure.  
  
"Yes, father." A soft whisper came.  
  
"Good. Bernard is waiting." At that final note, Lucius Malfoy turned with a swish of robes and silken fabric, disappearing down the hall. Listening until all sound was gone except his soft breathing, Draco sighed and got up slowly, grimacing slightly in pain. Other than that slight grimace, which turned into the cold sneer he was famous for, his face remained impassive and devoid of any feeling.  
  
"Damn you to hell." Draco muttered to himself as he slowly left the rat-infested cell and made his way up the old unused stone stairs into another day of torture.


	3. Silken Cuts

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Title: Bad Faith  
**Author name:** badfaith  
**Chapter: **2/?

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Author email: anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

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Author website: http://www.undisgusied.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R  
**Summary:** Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which is a boy-boy relationship. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime.

Chapter Two

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Silken Wounds

As soon as Draco reached his room, he found the butler, Bernard, waiting patiently for his arrival. Master Malfoy, I assume you will be wanting a bath and clean clothes appropriate for your activities tonight?" the butler asked primly, his nose twitching slightly at the smell. Draco was sure he reeked, so he nodded slightly and walked into the adjoining bathroom, finding a hot bath, and a towel already ready and waiting. He turned to the patiently waiting butler.  
  
"This will do. You may go." Draco waved the butler away with a flick of his hand.  
  
"As you wish, Master Malfoy. I shall bring your clothes up later." Bernard said politely, and bowed out of the room, closing the doors in front of him. Draco sighed and painfully began peeling off the soiled and shredded rags he was wearing, and walked over to the tub. Slipping carefully down into the warm water, savoring every little tiny jolt of stock when he felt the hot water touch his dry skin, he sighed in contentment and relief, the warm water soothing and relaxing his tight muscles. After a while of pure bliss, when Draco was in danger of nodding off to sleep and drowning himself, he realized that he should start actually taking a bath soon. Frowning with the thought that he had to move from the state that he had grown comfortable in, he slowly eased himself up and started to wash off the oily dirt that had decided to make his unwashed body a home for a short while.  
  
_But not for long,_ Draco thought.  
  
  
  
Feeling refreshed, clean, and all-around more healthy looking, Draco walked out of the bathroom, hot steam billowing out behind him from the bathroom into the cooler room. Draco, walking around with only a hunter green towel edged with silver thread designs (go figure) slung carelessly around his slender hips, and threatening to fall off, realized that Bernard had said that he would be back with Draco's evening attire. Completely without anything to do, Draco sat down in his plush green velvet armchair and waited until his robes arrived.  
  
He didn't have to wait long. Within a few short minutes a sharp rap sounded on Draco's door.  
  
"Come in." Draco invited, knowing fully well that it was Bernard, the butler. Bernard came in with a long black cloak draped over his right arm.  
  
"I have brought your robe, Master Malfoy. Where shall I put it?" the butler asked.  
  
"I'll take it. And hurry up next time. You kept me waiting. Father shall know about this." Draco said disdainfully as he got up to take the black robes.  
  
"As you wish, Master Malfoy," And the butler left, a carefully hidden fear in his eyes.  
  
Scoffing at the idiocy of the inept butler, Draco unfolded the robe in his arms. The robe billowed down, falling in a rustle of silk and chiffon. He gasped. In front of him was probably the most expensive robe he had ever seen. The outside was made of ebony black chiffon, and two silver links were there to fasten it together. Silver stitching, and elaborate designs with silver and silver-green thread framed the slit down the front. The inside of the robe was silver silk, the softest he had ever felt, and that was saying something, as his father only got the softest. But that was not the most shocking part. On the left side on the front of the robe was an insignia, the sign of the Dark Lord. Now Draco recognized that the robe he held was the official Leader Deatheater's robe, and the guests that he was meeting in the study tonight were not normal guests, but Deatheaters. And included in that role of guests was the Dark Lord himself, there to finally give Draco the Dark Mark, and invite him into his followers.  
  
Draco swallowed hard.


	4. Conversation with a Stranger

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Title: Bad Faith  
**Author name:** badfaith

****

Chapter: 3/?  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

****

Author website: http://www.undisgusied.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R  
**Summary:** Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which is a boy-boy relationship. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime.

Chapter Three

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Conversations With A Stranger

Armed with this realization of his fate, Draco quickly slipped on the cloak, sensually aware of the cold silk soothing the old and new wounds on his back and arms. Protected with knowledge, Draco left his room and headed towards his father's study.  
  
Walking down the richly ornamented, but rarely used decorative hallway; Draco glanced at the Malfoy ancestors. Morgan Malfoy was a great prophetess, who had almost succeeded the Great Prophetess Cassandra herself in greatness -- predicting the fall of Rome. There was Artemis Malfoy, a famous scientist who had discovered how to make anything into gold with a spell. (Draco wasn't sure if he was a disgrace or not; Absent-minded as the scientist was.) Lastly, Draco's eyes fell on the greatest scandal the Malfoy's, and the wizarding world, had ever seen. Adrian Malfoy, an aspiring, handsome young wizard, Head Boy, and Prefect ('going somewhere' friends used to say) Had done the unspeakable. Adrian had fallen in love with his sister. Unable to deal with the horrible truth, he had flown away, never to be heard from again. But, unknowingly, Adrian had left his sister with child. Horrified, (when they found out who the baby's father was, mind you) the Malfoy's had cast her out of the house, and had taken away her title. Filled with grief, the girl had given birth to the child, and cast herself off a cliff. No one knew what had happened to the child. Draco mused that if the girl had taken the trouble to deliver it, then it had probably lived. Smirking, Draco thought, That's the Malfoy legacy for you.  
  
With stark horror, Draco found that he had reached the study in short time. Taking a deep breath, he opened the wooden door. His father, Lucius Malfoy, was standing in the middle of the slightly freezing room.  
  
"Father." Draco inclined his head towards his father in acknowledgment that he was there.  
  
"Draco. I see you made it here early. I assume that you already know what I have planned for you tonight?" Lucius asked his son. Draco confirmed his father's assumption with a nod of his head.

"Yes, Father." Draco answered firmly.  
  
"Good, good." 


	5. Not Always as it Seems

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Title: Bad Faith  
**Author name:** badfaith

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Chapter: 4/?  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

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Author website: http://www.undisgusied.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R  
**Summary:** Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which is a boy-boy relationship. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime.

Chapter Four

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Not Always As It Seems

"Our guests will be arriving any minute now," Lucius told Draco. At that moment, several figures appeared in Deatheater drab, obviously apparating, in the study. "Ah, here they come." Lucius finished with a satisfied look of superiority on his face. Several of the figures that had begun to fill the room nodded acknowledgment Lucius's way. Draco's hands had begun to become damp with nervousness, although his face showed casual indifference. Soon, everyone had assembled, and a quiet hush filled the stifling air. 

Suddenly a tall, lithe figure appeared, seemingly floating a few inches above the ground in the middle of the study. The figure glided towards Draco, and stopped in front of him. Reaching out a long, slender white hand, it cupped Draco's chin, and forced his face to tip up to face its' hood. Draco closed his eyes, fearful of what was to happen next.  
  
"Are you afraid of me, Draco?" A high, but silky voice whispered from the darkness of the hood. Draco sucked in a startled gasp at the familiarity and intimacy in which the figure had said his name.  
  
"Yes, Master." Draco replied instinctively.  
  
The figure leaned closer, and Draco could smell a faintly sweet aroma of hot breath on his face.  
  
"I'm not your Master, Draco," The figure whispered confidentially, and Draco could almost hear the amusement in its' words. "Not yet".  
  
It happened so fast that Draco could hardly startle any reaction out of himself except for fainting. But what haunted him in his nightmares in the fitful sleep thereafter was a soothing voice whispering, "I expect great things from you, Draco." 


	6. Denial On A Train

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Title: Bad Faith  
**Author name:** badfaith

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Chapter: 5/?  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

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Author website: http://www.undisgusied.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R  
**Summary:** Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which is a boy-boy relationship. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime.

Chapter Five

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Denial On A Train

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One Month Later  
_Hogwarts Train_

Draco saw the black hair first. Then his eyes swept in the smooth white skin, sensuous lips, and beautiful long ebony eyelashes fluttering against perfect skin. The black hair was scattered messily everywhere, but it just added to Draco's growing desire for the sleeping figure curled up innocently on the train seat. Behind him, a voice broke his train of thought.  
  
"What are you doing here Malfoy?" A baritone voice hatefully called out. Draco then realized, too late, that the figure he had been staring at was none other than Harry Potter. Had he been looking at Potter with lust? Draco shook the absurd thought away as he turned around quickly to face his interrogator. Ron Weasley stood in front of him with Hermione Granger beside him. Hermione had a terrified look on her face. Over the past two years, ever since Cedric had been killed by You-Know-Who, Draco had grown crueler, colder, and downright unfeeling.  
  
"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Literally. If it isn't poor Weasel and his ugly Mudblood girlfriend." Draco sneered at the couple standing before him. Ron's face turned red.  
  
"You git!" Hermione grabbed Ron's cloak and held him back. "Let me at him, Hermione!"  
  
"Ron, stop it! He's not worth it." Hermione shouted at Ron.  
  
"Yes, Weasel. Listen to the Mudblood. She's smarter than you, after all." Draco snarled.  
  
"You know, Malfoy, with all the free time you have, seeing as you have no friends, you could have come up with something more unique for your insults" A smooth, low voice wryly said from behind Draco. Draco whipped swiftly around in a flurry of robes and faced the speaker, both hands on either side of the doorway into the train compartment, bracing himself for a verbal fight, like it always was with Potter. Nothing as intimate as touching -- fists or hands. What he saw made him falter. Harry was sitting there with an amused smile on his face-- his eyes were still filmed from recently waking up. His face was flushed, he was leaning back, and his legs were spread far apart. Draco's knees went weak, and he had to hold onto the door to keep from falling, and breaking pretense. A wave of hot desire and want flushed through him.  
  
Composing himself, Draco cleared his thoughts, and pulled together his suddenly cold figure. Draco smirked, "The great Potter finally stands up for his dirt poor and Mudblood friends. Decided to show how strong you are, Potter? Or are you afraid of the truth?" he finished, clearly pleased with himself.  
  
"Go use your insults on someone else, Malfoy. They're getting repetitive." Harry spat back, a look of boredom on his face. Draco was stunned. When had Potter gotten the guts to stand up to him, Draco Malfoy? And how come no one had informed him Potter had grown into a man?  
  
It must have been over the break, because last year, Potter had just stared at him like he had ever since Cedric Diggory's murder a blank black stare. Now, Potter had grown. In more ways than one, Draco mused.  
  
What Draco's eyes had seen before, his mind hadn't fully registered. Because, the Harry Potter sitting on the trains seat in front of him wasn't a boy any longer. A man was sitting there, and with blatant sexuality oozing out of every pour and fiber of his being. At that moment Draco knew what to do next. A true smile lit up Draco's face. Climbing all the way up to his eyes, lighting them with a welcoming twinkle of merriment.  
  
"I see you've finally found yourself, Harry. Good luck, you'll need it." Draco said sincerely, reaching out his hand, and taking Harry's in it. A quick shake of an enemy turned something else's hand, a swish of robes and three startled faces were all that Draco left behind on that meeting on the Hogwarts train.  
  
Draco, having left the Trio to exchange rumors about his wild, erratic behavior contemplated the new addiction that was silently growing, and the orders his Master had given him: befriend Harry Potter. Draco thought that where he had started was better than anything else that would have come along. The only thing that bothered him was a tingling something was dreadfully wrong on the Hogwarts Train at that moment.


	7. Premonitions of Despair

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Title: Bad Faith  
**Author name:** badfaith

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Chapter: 6/?  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

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Author website: http://www.undisgusied.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R  
**Summary:** Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which is a boy-boy relationship. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime.

Chapter Six

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Premonitions Of Despair

Break The Glass

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There are two main ways to look at life...  
  
You can look at the window  
  
At the dirt that stains the pane  
  
At its boundaries and its frame  
  
That confides you inside  
  
Or  
  
You can look through the window  
  
To where it rains or shines  
  
Where you'll find the lemons and the limes  
  
Yet you can't be there  
  
Either way you are on the inside looking out  
  
To where you wish to be  
  
Life starts the same for everyone  
  
It is just the way you look at it  
  
That makes it what you see  
  
But then again you could always break the glass...  
  
--Warui Warui Neko

  
  
  
  
He had a headache. It was the kind that pulsated painfully at his temple, stabbing every second. He had tried everything to make it go away, but nothing had worked yet. The headache was scattering his thoughts into pandemonium. He couldn't collect a single one. The confusion of what he had done at the train compartment filled his mind. Shaken hands with Potter? He had felt like some unseen force had guided through the whole encounter. What in hell was going on? The thoughts weren't his (why would he think those obscene thoughts about Potter), and the actions definitely weren't. What was this creepy feeling that something was wrong, like everything was slightly out of whack, like, the floor was tilted, and there was two of everything. After a short while, the headache increased, and the dread grew heavier upon his soul. A thump made him jerk his head up quickly in reflex, causing a wave of pain and blackness to blur his vision. The last thing that Draco saw was a tall figure standing in the doorway before his body crumpled helplessly into a heap of black on the compartment floor.

10 minutes earlier  
Train Compartment  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat quietly on the train seat. Ron was nervously twiddling his thumbs, and tapping his feet to an unknown beat. Harry was looking out the window and slightly humming under his breath, and Hermione was looking at Harry, then glancing at Ron, and soon turned her face towards the compartment door, a look on her face silently pleading for an answer. They all knew the moment was about to come, and Harry and Hermione took a deep breath to steel themselves for the arriving moment.  
  
"Ok, what in bloody hell was that?!" Ron looked anxiously from Hermione to Harry, both who had sat up straight as soon as Ron had yelled 'Ok'. Ron's look had a questioning gaze of mixed confusion and anger. "He bloody shook your hand, Harry. Who the hell does he think his is?" Both Harry and Hermione had anticipated the language. Ron only was that vulgar when he was riled so badly he couldn't take anymore.  
  
Hermione sighed with a tinge of sadness laced in her voice, and tried to calm Ron down. "Ron, c'mon. Something obviously happened over summer. Maybe he decided not to be mean anymore. I mean, you both saw him hesitate. And the way he looked at Harry. Ron, we have to discuss this rationally. Malfoy is a human being." Hermione looked pointedly at both boys sitting across from her, trying to get her point across.  
  
  
"Bloody hell he is." Ron muttered savagely under his breath, but Harry stilled him with a look.  
  
"I know, Herm. But…well, he's Malfoy. Something's up. He wouldn't be arguing one second, then shaking my hand the next if something wasn't. You know that, Herm. And Ron -- try not to be such an easy target by reacting that way to his childish insults. He's just trying to provoke you into a fight." Harry spoke up.  
  
Ron sighed in defeat and nodded, but got a curious look on his face as if something he hadn't thought before crossed his mind. His brow furrowed in consternation. "I just thought of something, Harry. He's right you know." Ron met Harry and Hermione's eyes in complete sincerity, "You have found yourself, Harry. That's what hurts me. He saw it first, that brainless git. He saw something I never realized this whole summer."  
  
Harry didn't speak. He sensed the hurt and confusion in Ron, and the helplessness in Hermione, who was unable to comfort the person she loved. But he also sensed a foreboding wave of horror and shock aboard the train. Harry felt a spark of Dark Magic light up the end of the train, and his scar started to throb. But, as soon as it had come on, the pain disappeared, and so had the emanating fear. Harry shook the lingering feeling away, and went back to his friends, who had changed the subject in hopes of lightening up the atmosphere.  
  
  
  
  
  
_Sorting Ceremony_  
  
The sorting ceremony had irked Harry. Amid normal occasions – such as a new DADA professor (as usual, there was a new one, seeing as everyone thought it was cursed, and the position was left empty for someone to refill every year) who, in Harry's opinion, seemed kind enough, because he had smiled warmly in Harry's direction (his name was Professor Linus Node, whereas the students were to call him Professor Node) – Harry still felt a slight breeze of Dark Magic in the air. Harry had also noticed that Dumbledore was slightly subdued from his usual merriment, and cried even more than usual when the school sang the Hogwarts School Song, and had no uplifting words at the end. All the professors looked slightly worn out already, even though the year hadn't even started yet. Even Professor Snape looked slightly paler, and, if it was possible, greasier than usual. Harry also noted with a slight curiosity, that Malfoy was jumping at every little squeak and whisper, and had even fallen off his chair, which afterwards a faint rosy tinge flushed his pale cheeks, and Harry noted that a little color in Malfoy's face improved his disposition greatly, and he didn't looked as menacing as before, even with the skittish and furtive glances he gave occasionally scanning the hall.  
  
Harry concluded, as they trudged, Ron, Hermione, and him, off to the Gryffindor common room, that he was going to write a letter to Sirius, who had recently been cleared of all charges against him, and inform him of all the strange going-ons at Hogwarts already.  
  
A few minutes later, after Harry had said goodnight to Ron and Hermione, and shed off his clothes, excepting his undershirt and boxers, he slipped into the warmth and comfort of his soft warm bed and the protection of the oblivion of sleep.  
  
  
  
_Draco Malfoy's four-poster Bed:  
Slytherin Boy's Dormitories_  
  
  
Draco tossed and turned in his sleep, mumbling incoherent words, if they were words, and moaning. To some, it would have appeared that he was having a nightmare, but Draco Malfoy never had nightmares, no way. Draco Malfoy had plagues of what was beyond nightmares. You know the ones that happen if you never wake up in a nightmare, if you never scream out, if you've seen the face of pure evil. And Draco had. And that was where his nightmare later chose to lead him.


	8. At The Foot Of Evil

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Title: Bad Faith  
**Author name:** badfaith

****

Chapter: 7/?  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

****

Author website: http://www.undisgusied.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R  
**Summary:** Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which is a boy-boy relationship. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime.

Chapter Seven

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At The Foot Of Evil

"I took the road less traveled by  
  
And that has made all the difference"  
  
--Robert Frost  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Draco found himself in a spiral of dark clouds. He was going deeper and deeper, falling faster and faster, spinning out of control. A picture fuzzily formed in front of his eyes – a figure wearing a black cape, shrouded in ethereal green light. The figure raised its left arm, wand clutched in it, and a shot of green stabbing light filled Draco's vision. Draco then lapsed into darkness.  
  
The next thing that Draco heard was an unusual high-pitched laugh, one that shocked him clear to the bone. Suddenly, a face appeared, and it seemed that the person had started to talk to him.  
  
The face was framed by soft black hair, and its eyes were a deep dark blue. It was a boy, barely 17. Innocence and sincerity filled the features on his face, and you would expect nothing but good out of the boy wearing it. The boy chuckled deeply and smiled deviously, slightly cracking the wide- eyed look of innocence he had worn before. Draco felt a slight shiver of fear and revulsion travel up his spine, and in his gut he knew the young man who looked so innocent and kind in front of him was one of the grotesque monstrous creations of the world. A hideous, twisted creature created from the evils of man's mind. Draco knew then that he was looking into the face of evil: an innocent young man with a kindly and gentle expression on his face. The face of the man twisted into an evil sneer, from a deep chuckle, and his voice became higher.  
  
"You are so precious to me Draco. In a few seconds' time you realized who and what I am. You have powers beyond that which you know or understand. You will be great, someday, Draco, with my help. Just trust me, Cousin." The young man held out his hand, and Draco took it cautiously. Another burst of green light sent Draco sprawling on the ground, and a horrible pain coursed through his veins.  
  
Draco screamed, and bolted upright in his own bed, sweat streaming down his face, his hair and clothes soaked. He was panting loudly, and his eyes were skittish. He whispered a message he didn't understand, against his will, in a strange and horrible language. One he had heard Potter use. A hissing sound erupted in the darkness.  
  
"It hassss begun."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The pale fluttering light, straining to become bolder, cut across closed eyelids, framing innocence. Harry woke up from a peaceful night's rest and got dressed for breakfast.  
  
When he arrived with Ron and Hermione in tow behind him, a large, chattering group of excited students blocked the way to the Main Hall.  
  
Ron and Harry fought and elbowed their way to the front of the crowd while Hermione politely asked students to let her through. The sight that greeted them made them freeze in silent shock. The only statement that erupted into the stunned silence was Ron's assessment of it.  
  
  
  
"Bloody hell!" 


	9. The Writing On The Wall

****

Title: Bad Faith  
**Chapter: **8/?

****

Author name: badfaith  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

****

Author website: http://www.undisguised.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R  
**Summary:** Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which are two boys who are in a sexual relationship together. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime. ^_^

****

A/N: I am _so_ sorry for not finishing this chapter earlier! I'm a nasty procrastinator, and I shouldn't punish you for it. I finally have finished this chapter, though, and I hope you enjoy it, seeing as I do think my writing has improved. ^_^ Please review of course 

Chapter Eight

__

The Writing On The Wall

It appeared to have been meticulously planned. The strangeness of it all gave Harry an odd sense of déjà vu creeping slowly down his spine with chilled fingers.

The letters were large, easy to read. The person who had put them up had obviously thought the situation out from every angle possible. The words appeared to have been written by magic, not by hand. The message had been placed in a most inconvenient place – right outside the Main Hall. How anyone would miss seeing it in his or her daily routine was impossible.

Harry once again reread the strange message on the stone wall.

__

Awaken Fire and Ice

The letters swirled as if alive -- coiling and intertwining inside of each other, but never changing what was written. Then he realized – it wasn't the letters that were moving, it was snakes. Small snakes writhed in the words – drawn, but nevertheless impossibly realistic.

Around the phenomenon in question was the reason Ron had shouted 'Bloody Hell!' and why there was a dead silence in the corridor.

The blood looked like it had oozed slowly out of the minuscule cracks in the mortar and stone, magically appearing out of what seemed solid wall. It had dripped thickly, dark and crimson red, down the cold and gray blocks. Seemingly when it was puddling on the floor and streaming down the stone it had frozen. In small streaks of frozen brown-red the evidence remained, the red icicles thawing, dripping the now freed blood.

All this surrounded the message, and stilled the voices of many.

__

Later -- Gryffindor Common Room

"I don't suppose you have any idea what that…thing written on the wall meant, do you Herm?" Ron asked hopefully, looking with round puppy eyes at his caramel-brown haired girlfriend.

She laughed, but it was a nervous laugh, one not quite sure if the occasion called for it. The raven-haired slender boy slouching next to the couple glanced over and fixed his hypnotizing emerald gaze expectantly on the girl.

"Well?" the slender boy urged her on.

She shifted uneasily on the couch under the force of the two boys' looks. "Well…I remember reading something in sixth year for some fun," she began.

The redhead snorted and the raven-haired boy smiled a knowing smile. The girl rolled her eyes at their antics, quite familiar and comforting like an old blanket, and continued.

"It was an old, dusty book. I think it was called '_Prophecies_ _In Ancient Times'_, or something along that line.

"I thought you didn't like Divination, Herm." Ron interrupted. 

"Well, it looked interesting." The girl scowled her irritation at being interrupted. "Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted," another scowl at the red-haired boy and a pointed look, "it said something about a woman who prophesied the end of the Wizarding World. The prophecy said something about it being destroyed by fire and ice."

"We have to find this book, Herm," Harry said. "This suspension of classes won't last long, and I can just feel that something bad will happen if we don't act quick. Herm, you try and find that book. Ron and I will ask around and see if anyone else knows anything."

Ron piped up, "If anyone knows anything, I wouldn't be surprised if it's that slimy git Malfoy."

"Ron, we were wrong about him in second year. Maybe this time he doesn't have anything to do with it either." Harry pointed out, giving Ron a long look. "If we don't have any leads in a week, or Malfoy kills someone with his bare hands in front of our whole school, we will _not _go assuming just because his father is a Death Eater that he had something to do with this."

"All right, Harry." Ron slumped, properly chastised. "But you have to admit, whoever did that stuff on the wall is pretty good at wand work."

"Yes, Ron, I know. And that's what I'm worried about. Who here knows that much about spells?" 

__

Southeast Corridor

"What…?" a mousy haired small girl started, her brown doe-like eyes round.

__

"Avada Kedavra!"

Her lifeless body crumpled to the floor.

The boy stood, his wandless hands dripping crimson blood onto the floor, his eyes gleaming ice cold into the night. 


	10. Interlude

****

Title: Bad Faith  
**Chapter: **8/?

****

Author name: badfaith  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

****

Author website: http://www.undisguised.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R  
**Summary:** Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which are two boys who are in a sexual relationship together. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime. ^_^

__

Interlude

__

Speak For Me

__

Dare I dream for the fear of my own sub-conscious?

I am crazed with a sort of hypnotic tittering in my ribcage. My thoughts scrabble to deny what mine eyes have seen.

God, I thought…

I thought I had seen things that were the epitome of heartless. I thought…no, It does not matter anymore what I thought.

It only matters what I will think. When I gain what I want, correction: when I gain what I wanted, will I become less than myself? Will I loose every vestige, every scrap of feelings that might betray me? Or will it be some sort of prison, the real me, my independent soul locked up in a far dusty corner when my thoughts have long since ceased to tread?

If I regret, will someone be there to pull me out? To grab the keys for the belt of the snoring guard and make a daring rescue, be my hero?

Why do I even dare ask? I have pitted the rest of myself against all for a reason none will ever know. 

For now I will rest, though, and hope that some day I will find that tiny escape route through which the light filters. Oh, yes, dimly, but at least I know I am not blind and there are others out there, a world to wonder once I am free.

****

A/N: Oh, boy. You're probably wondering "what the heck?" Don't worry, it's an Interlude! For those who understand where this Compass points, the Interlude is for you. 

****

"For low! 

The vestiges of bondage have ceased to exist.

And I will once more travel barefoot

On the salty breeze of carelessness."

Anyone care to guess where or whom that is quoted from?

__


	11. Revelations

****

Title: Bad Faith  
**Chapter: **9/?

****

Author name: badfaith  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

****

Author website: http://www.undisguised.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R

****

Summary: Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which are two boys who are in a sexual relationship together. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime. ^_^

****

A/N: Please review, you guys. I would really appreciate it. I got no reviews on my last chapter, and only a couple on the chapter before that. 

****

Thank You's to Reviewers: Anne Phoenix – I'm continuing, I'm continuing!, **Trunks Admirer** – Thanks! J , **Rube** – I'll email you the chapters as soon as I can!, **Andie Blair** – Wow! Well, here's more., **Andie** – Always love your comments. ^_^, **mizbabe** -- *blown away* I must say, thank you very much., **Anonymous** – You love my plot? What plot? *Looks around* You must be joking. The only thing here is – _oh!_ That plot! Draco, please give that back.

****

Thank You's to Others: My Muse, who at this time refuses to reveal their identity, I am extremely grateful for their ever present whisperings at my ear, and the visions they send me in my dreams. Andie, again. She's a really sweet girl who deserves recognition for her work. And, last but most definitely not least, my new soul brother, Dan (who is oblivious that I even write. _Shhhhh!_ Don't tell him!)

****

Chapter Nine

__

Revelations

The Common Room door banged open with a loud _bang!_ And Hermione stumbled hurriedly through the opening, her hair more frazzled looking than ever. In her arms she carried an old, rotting, dust-covered book.

"I found it!" she yelled enthusiastically. 

"Found what exactly?" Harry asked calmly, quite used to Hermione's erratic and unusual behavior.

"The Prophecy! It's all here. I knew I had read it before! You won't believe what I found! It's…it's amazing!" Hermione's face was a glow with excitement, and her eyes glittered with it.

"Well, show it to us already!" Ron said impatiently. Hermione scurried over to the couch, clutching the book possessively. Ron and Harry scooted over to make room for her. She sat down and placed the book on the table in front of them, and flipped through its yellowed pages carefully. Finally, she stopped turning at a page halfway through the book. 

"Here." She pointed to the top of the page, "The Prophetess Morgana." She read the bold title at the top. "Most noted for her prophecy of the Fall of Rome, the Prophetess Morgana only prophesied thrice. Her first Prophecy was as a young girl, when she divined the slaughter of all the members of her family, excepting her brother, Darius, and her, four days before it happened. Her second and previously mentioned Prophecy was the Fall of Rome, thirteen full years before. Most scoffed at her Prophecy, but after it came true, Morgana was hailed as a Prophetess. Years later, as an old woman, Morgana Prophesied once again -- the destruction of the Wizarding World. Her brother thus wrote her last words, as she lay on her deathbed, horrified at what she had seen:

__

Worlds full of killing  
and blood spilling.  
For revenge the people will call.

To pay the price:

Fire and Ice.

Thus the Wizarding World shall fall.

Many scholars have mused on what she had seen in her divining, but none have agreed on one single thing. Many hope her last prophecy will never bear fruit." Hermione fell silent, and they all sat contemplating what she had just read.

"But what does it mean?" Harry started, "Fire and Ice, I mean."

"I don't know Harry. I wish I did, but I don't." Hermione sounded quite melancholy. Ron put his arm around her.

"Cheer up, Herm'. You can't know everything, you know." He kissed the top of her head gently. She sighed and nestled into his embrace. 

"I wish I did, Ron. It would make it so much easier for us, and for Harry." Harry, who had been rereading the page Hermione had read out loud, looked up.

"Hermione, what's this?" He pointed at the bottom of the page, at some small letters she hadn't caught before as he held it up for her and Ron to see. Hermione snatched the book from him quickly and read it. Both boys looked at her expectantly. The bottom read:

__

See also:

Malfoy, Darius

"Good god," Hermione gasped.

"What?" Ron asked, horrified that something bad had happened.

"The Prophetess Morgana--" She began.

"Yes?" Harry urged her.

"She was a Malfoy."

****

A/N: Hehehe. I'm mean, aren't I? Cliffhanger! Don't worry – Chapter Ten will be out soon, **IF** and only if you review. 


	12. Whispers

****

Title: Bad Faith  
**Chapter: **10/?

****

Author name: badfaith  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

****

Author website: http://www.undisguised.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R

****

Summary: Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which are two boys who are in a sexual relationship together. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime. ^_^

****

A/N: This is my longest chapter yet. BlancheM. told me my chapters were too short, so I decided to buckle down and write a long one. Hope you enjoy. Some mild (er…kind of) slash in this chapter. Next chapter will be the slash you're looking for. Oh, and this chapter features tutu!Snape. (Couldn't resist.)

****

Thank You's to Reviewers: BlancheM. – Thanks so much for reviewing! *Huggles*

****

Thank You's to Others: I must thank Andie, because she gave me an idea for this chapter. ^_^ And Dan, who read my story because he was bored. 

****

Chapter Ten

__

Whispers

Harry.

At first it was quite soft, a figment of imagination shattered easily, but then it became gradually more insistent.

****

Harry.

Come with me.

He saw a hand -- pale, slender fingers reach out to him admidst the dark. He wished he had a face to go with the phantom apparition.

****

Harry.

Look at me.

He looked up. He knew he shouldn't have. His eyes traveled the arm connecting to the hand, then to the shoulder, with soft white hair cascading on it. Then the face. He was beautiful. Everything single feature etched on him seemed to call feverishly to Harry, invading his senses. He longed to fall into the angel's arms, to feel comfort.

It was Malfoy.

Harry recoiled. Malfoy? Since when did he like Malfoy? His mind's feeble rational thoughts where pushed out when Malfoy spoke again.

****

Harry.

Come with me.

Be with me.

Harry bit his lip with all the concentration he could muster. 

****

Please, Harry --

Harry stood, wavering on the point of defeat.

****

Love me.

He fell into Draco's arms, and it felt like it was meant to be all along. He felt safe from all the cares of the world.

Harry looked up into Draco's eyes, and saw them shining with tears. "I love you," Harry whispered. "I love you, D -- "

And he sat up, bathed in sweat. It was dripping from his long, black hair into his eyes, salty and stinging.

__

What in bloody hell was that about? Harry thought.

The curtain whipped open.

Ron's concerned face appeared.

"Harry, you okay mate?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Ron. Just a nightmare." Harry reassured his best friend.

"So it wasn't…?" Ron flapped his hands around to elaborate, and pointed at his head.

"No, Ron. It wasn't about Voldemort. It was about – It was about Malfoy."

Ron sighed. "Well, I know how terrifying that could be if Malfoy was in your dreams. Can you just imagine him and Snape in tutus dancing around Potions class?" Ron struggled to keep a straight face. 

Harry burst out laughing. "Why, Ron! Wherever did that come from?"

"I _did_ have a nightmare like that once!" Both boys were laughing hysterically.

"Quiet it down over there! Some people are trying to actually sleep, you know!" Seamus yelled.

Both boys stopped laughing, and Ron's look once more became serious.

"Get some sleep Harry. You'll be all right?"

"Yes, Ron. I'll be all right. And if the nightmare comes back, I'll just envision Snape in a tutu."

Ron giggled and nodded, heading off to his bed. 

Harry wondered if Ron had noticed he hadn't mentioned seeing Dra-Malfoy in a tutu. Because Harry was sure if he had he would have sported an erection right then and there. And that would have been most embarrassing.

Because Draco Malfoy sure had some nice legs.

Harry wasn't sure if it was because of the dream he had had the previous night, or something else, but today he actually noticed Draco Malfoy. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. Dark circles underlined his drooping eyes, and his body looked ready to fall over any second. But still, Harry found him very attractive. 

He thought that liking a boy might seem a little weird, but when he thought about he had always known. He didn't totally like boys, he still thought some girls were cute, and he supposed he could date some, but right now his eyes were only on one.

Talk about teenage hormones.

Plus, Potions Class proved his theory. Draco Malfoy _did_ have nice legs.

When they got back to the Common Room after Supper, some of the Gryffindors sat in hushed bunches, avidly whispering.

Harry caught snatches and bits of conversation as he waded through to Seamus, Dean, and Neville.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked them.

"It's Hannah Abbot. She's dead." Dean spoke up, his face grave.

"What?!" Harry half whispered half yelled.

"Yeah. They found her body in one of the unused corridors. She'd been missing all day. I heard, well it's just a rumor, but I heard there was something wrong with the way she died. The Professors won't say anything about it, and there's been a school ban like Second Year. We have to stay in our Common Rooms after dark, and not go anywhere without a Prefect or a Professor with us."

"I reckon it 'twasn't the Wizardin' Way." Seamus piped up, a sort of musing look on his face.

"What?" Harry asked, and all of them looked expectantly at Seamus.

"Her death. See, if it 'twas the Wizardin' Way, all wands and spells and hexes and such, they would 'ave told us already how she died. We already know 'twasn't natural. So that only leaves one way. The Muggle way."

Blank faces stared back.

"Oh for heaven's sake." Hermione shook her head in disgust. "He means someone killed her naturally. With a knife or strangulation."

"Oh…" Neville said in understanding.

"Or someone killed her with _Avada Kedavra_." Harry softly said. They all looked at him. "That would explain why it was unnatural. Who here has the Power to cast it? Or to Cast that Charm on the wall?"

"Why, you do Harry." Neville said.

"Neville!" Hermione said patronizingly.

"No, no. I didn't mean Harry did it. I was just saying that if Harry had Power to do that, someone else must too. But who?"

No one spoke up, but a name slithered across Harry's thoughts.

__

Malfoy.

Harry lay in bed, thinking about that week's disturbances. He was also thinking about Malfoy.

Harry didn't know if Malfoy would have been strong enough to pull off _Avada Kedavra_. Sure, his ancestress was a Prophetess, but was that grounds to place the blame on Malfoy? Just because he might have the power to cast that spell on someone?

He tossed and turned for hours, unable to get to sleep.

Harry finally decided he was going to go for a walk, school rules be damned. 

He swung out of bed, pulled on some jeans and a T-shirt and his boots. Then he picked up his Invisibility Cloak, and went out for a nighttime walk.

Draco had seen Potter staring at him all day. It quite disturbed him. At first he thought Potter must just be shooting scathing glares at him, and so Draco ignored him. But as the day progressed, Draco noticed that Potter wasn't exactly looking at the upper portion of his body.

__

Why, Potter. I didn't know you swung that way. Draco thought, highly amused. Potter making goo-goo eyes at him was better than anything this day might yet offer, and Draco reveled in the newfound information. It was certainly better dwelling on Potter than what had happened that morning.

Draco had woken up, stretching and yawning. He had plodded to his private bathroom. (Of _course_ he had one.) And had nearly screamed at what he had seen in the mirror. He had nearly scrubbed it all off, but some rusty colored flakes were still underneath his manicured nails, and he was pretty sure his white hair had a reddish brown tinge to it. He tried to figure out when he had taken a blood bath, and why in bloody hell he had done it. For surely enough, he had been covered in dry blood.

He still wasn't sure if it was good or bad, even after he had heard of the "unnatural" death of that one Hufflepuff girl.

Draco thought on sending his Father a letter informing him on what had happened, but he was sure that somehow his Father already knew.

So all this thinking gave Draco Malfoy once again a restless night. Even though he couldn't remember the night before, he was sure that had also been equally as restless. Or more so.

On went the leather boots, black pants, black shirt, and long cloak.

Out went Draco Malfoy into the deepest recesses of Hogwarts for a nighttime stroll.

****

A/N: Please, please, please, please, _please_ **review**!!!!!

****


	13. Alone

****

Title: Bad Faith  
**Chapter: **11/?

****

Author name: badfaith  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

****

Author website: http://www.undisguised.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R

****

Summary: Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

****

Warning: This story contains slash, which are two boys who are in a sexual relationship together. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime. ^_^

****

A/N: Whoo-hoo! Slash ahead maties! But be warned, 'tis accompanied by **angst.**

Thank You's to Reviewers: BlancheMalfoy: Draco possessed…hehehehe. Don't you just want to know!,** Milly Chan: **More mature, huh? Why, thank you. I try not to eat as much sugar and kill my brain cells as much as other people *cough cough*. I love the word 'slithered', too. Just makes you want to use variations of it for cuss words.,** Val Mora: **Oh, yes. That Voldie-bunny. *Tsk-tsk* We shall see about that possession part. 

****

Thank You's to Others: Hmm. My Muse is due for another one. Thank you! *huggles Muse until they protest and try to push her away* No one guessed where that poem was from! I was hoping someone would. *Sulks*

Here it is again. Please guess who or where this is quoted from! You have to read the Interlude to get this, and why I used it.

****

"For low! 

The vestiges of bondage have ceased to exist.

And I will once more travel barefoot ****

On the salty breeze of carelessness."

****

Chapter Eleven

__

Alone

Harry sat down in one of the many alcoves hidden in the niches of Hogwarts. There were many, yes, but this was his favorite one. He often came here to relax and be himself, something he wasn't allowed to do often. 

It reflected a sort of peace. The ceiling was charmed to look out into the night sky, and the velvet cushions were a deep blue, and stars hung on the wall. It was like a miniature Astronomy Tower, only homier since Harry had added some of his personal effects. He had brought a deep burgundy colored wooden table from a storeroom and set it in the corner. Later, he had found some folded velvet blue curtain in the same storage room, and had draped it over the table. On top of the table was a silver bowl, which Harry had thought extremely charming, and that had turned up one day on top of the table. 

There were other little knickknacks placed strategically around the alcove, some of his own doing, others not. He had an inkling someone else used the alcove as their own private haven, and Harry gladly welcomed them too it. Their own additions had made the room feel more at home, like Harry's and this other's things belonged together, side by side. Harry settled down to reflect upon things in general.

He came upon the conclusion that he had bottled up his emotions entirely too much over the past months, and he needed to just let it all out -- a short while after he had comfortably settled himself down on the rich velvet cushions.

He felt himself drifting comfortably off to sleep.

Harry's eyes opened wide when he heard the alcove door bang open and he saw a figure stride in. I jerked to a halt when it saw him.

"Why, Potter. So you're the lovely person who has been sharing my alcove. I must say I was expecting a more, shall we say, fashionable person? Perhaps someone with more intellect than you appear to have."

It was Malfoy. Harry felt his eyes narrow in suspicion.

"Why, Malfoy. Did I surprise you? I have to admit, I was expecting someone with more intelligence, too."

Malfoy snorted and moved to the other side of the room and flopped gracefully, as always, Harry noted, onto the cushions. Harry could see Malfoy looking at him.

"What?" Harry asked, quite flustered.

"I was just imagining, Potter –"

"Imagining what?" Harry interrupted.

"You do never let me finish, do you? What, do you feel a need to know every single fantasy of mine? Every single sordid detail of my existence? I wonder what your every fantasies are, Potter. I suggest an exchange. Your fantasies for mine." Malfoy raised his left eyebrow elegantly. "Or are you too much a coward?"

Harry blushed. "No, I'm not a coward, Malfoy. Let's hear yours first, though."

"I should have guessed. Potter, the ever present gentleman." Malfoy smirked." All right. My fantasy is –" He broke off.

Harry didn't say anything, waiting for Malfoy to finish.

"I wish that my Father--" Draco paused. He looked at Harry. "God, why am I telling you this? Perfect Potter, Saint Potter already has too many more important things to worry about than my petty problems and me. You must be disgusted." Draco looked away.

Harry was sure that Draco wanted to tell someone the truth. It would be good for Draco to get his innermost troubles off his chest. He got up and walked over to Draco, knelt down in front of him. Harry placed a hand on Draco's knee. He gently placed his hand on Draco's cheek and turned his face toward him. Harry's eyes met Draco's surprised and confused ones. 

"Malfoy – don't ever think that because I'm Harry Potter I don't have time for you. I'll always listen to whatever problem anyone has and try to help them through it." Harry said softly, encouragingly.

Draco's eyes flashed with anger. Harry let his hand drop. "So you think I'm some sort of Charity Case? How many other people have you said that exact same thing to?" He angrily snarled. 

"No, Malfoy! I…I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I do…worry about you. You'll never be just a "charity case" to me." 

"That's bullshit, Potter. Why should you suddenly care about me?" Confusion was once again evident in Draco's eyes.

"Because…because--" Harry fumbled about for the right words.

"I thought so." A disgusted note crept into Draco's voice, and he started to get up.

"Malfoy--" Harry started.

Draco whirled around, his patience finally gone. "What? What does the fucking Golden Boy have to say to me now? Perhaps spout off a few well chosen quotes and think that I would grovel and spill out my innermost secrets and fears to you? Why, Potter? Why in bloody fucking hell are you tormenting me?" At the end of his tirade he was practically screaming, spittle flying out of his mouth, his face inches away from Harry's.

He stood there breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. He was waiting for an answer, some sort of verbal response, but what he got was most unexpected.

Draco felt the soft lips give him a sweet butterfly kiss, chaste, undemanding. His eyes fluttered closed in a living reverie, a thrill like none he had ever felt before shot through his body. Draco's eyelids opened slowly after he felt the light pressure leave his lips. He found himself staring into a miasma of colors, found himself lost in the deep swirl of emerald and gold, wanted to stay there forever, fall into the others' embrace. But, as suddenly as he had fallen into a warm embrace, it was gone. And he found himself standing alone, in the now cold room that had once been so inviting. And he finally realized what it was like to be truly alone.

To feel perfect bliss and to lose it in the same instant. He fell down, utterly and completely lost, inviting the dark in once again. But, this time it couldn't fill the hole in his heart with blackness. It was a battle he could never win. Why would he want darkness, cold and unforgiving, when he had felt the light, warm and safe? So, for the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy cried from his heart, a keen wailing of true despair, and in his mind he kept replaying the look of total and utter disgust that had come into Harry's green eyes before he had walked away.

Harry couldn't believe he had done that. He had just kissed Malfoy, right on the mouth. 

As the realization of what had happened reached his mind, he leaned against one of the stone walls, and his back slid slowly down it as he stared straight ahead. 

He had kissed Draco Malfoy, his enemy since the second time he had met him. The one who tormented him more than any other person in the world, maybe even more than Voldemort. 

So?

If Malfoy was the one person in the world who could give him happiness, so be it. But Malfoy? Gods.

But Malfoy had just felt…right. His warm embrace kind and loving, his eyes filled with confusion, but also with…happiness?

Harry just couldn't deal with it right then. He trudged back to the Gryffindor Boy's Dorms, that agonizingly wonderful kiss with Malfoy still on his mind.

He fell asleep with visions of ice and fire, red and silver, intertwining with the wind whipping by and waves lapping on a jagged cliff.


	14. Disillusionments

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Title: Bad Faith  
**Chapter: **12/?

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Author name: badfaith  
**Author email:** anna@tomfelton.zzn.com

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Author website: http://www.undisguised.net and http://nightfall.undisguised.net  
**Category:** Angst  
**Sub Category: **Drama  
**Rating:** R

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Summary: Draco Malfoy learned a few things he didn't want to know, and as a result he is plunged into a war. Will Harry Potter be able to save him before it's too late? Or will Harry learn things that might condemn Draco to death?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot and title are mine, though!

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Warning: This story contains slash, which are two boys who are in a sexual relationship together. If that's not your cup o' tea, I suggested you find some that is, or you'll miss your teatime. ^_^

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A/N: Heeeeeeeheeeeee! I love this chapter! It's so cute! Snogs ahead, and muchy much discussion between Malfoy and Harry, which leads to the snogs. ^_^

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Thank You's to Reviewers: BlancheMalfoy: Thanks! I really enjoy your reviews. I don't have the Internet right now. Arg. But I do want to say I like your new fic! Very good! **Dan:** I'll email you. My computer went back to being a meanie, and decided free Internet service was not on the list of Christmas presents for me. Arg.

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Thank You's to Others: Muse! Oh muse! *cuddles muse who squirms and tries to get away* I love you!

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Chapter Twelve

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Disillusionments

"The tangled weave in which we find ourselves

Is but an illusion of disillusionments."

-- _Aidan Donovan_

The flames rippled in a dazzling display of light; red, orange, yellow, and at the very heart blue – the cool numbness of release. When he reached it, he could no longer feel the searing pain, could no longer hear the crackling or the screams of agony. He just sat there, staring into the fire, mesmerized by it's ever changing shape flickering around his hand. 

Suddenly he was wrenched away from the flames; he let out a pitiful moan of loss. From somewhere came soft whisperings, and the cool touch of gentle hands lifting him up before he rushed head-fist into blackness.

He came to to the lulling sound of far-away whisperings; the touch of concern in the voices wafting to his ears. The fog cleared away and Draco could hear the voices clearly.

"—too bad. I don't know if he'll be all right or not."

Low murmurings he could not catch.

"—no. He's been sitting there ever since he brought Mr. Malfoy in. Poor boy won't even leave his side for a minute. I don't know why, S--"

The voices moved from that room to the next, fading out of his hearing range.

A soft moan sounded next to him, and Draco slowly opened his eyes. Harry Potter was sitting next to the hospital bed he was lying in, asleep. His black hair was strewn across the white sheets and on Draco's thigh. Harry's lips were slightly parted, his low breathing even. Draco lifted his hand, then, belatedly, noticed that it was wrapped in white gauze, all the way up to his shoulder. He stared at it, transfixed.

He felt a slight movement next to him and looked at Harry, who was waking up. A large red mark covered the side of his face. 

"Potter." Draco stated, in way of a greeting.

"Malfoy." Harry replied back, albeit somewhat groggily. "How do you feel?"

"How do I _feel_? Good god, Potter." Draco snorted in disgust. "Didn't you know?" 

Harry shook his head, black strands flying. "Know _what_, Malfoy?" His eyebrows furrowed in consternation.

"I wanted to burn. I wanted to **die**, Potter. What part of the word 'suicide' do you not understand?" Draco sneered.

"But--"

"But it's always your job to save people, isn't it, Potter? Harry Potter, the Savior of the Wizarding World. Did you ever think someone could actually _want_ to die, Potter? No, I don't think so. Potter and his perfect ideals, good and evil. Things aren't so stark in reality. Wake up, Potter. There is no white and black, only gray. And as long as you disillusion yourself, the more you'll get hurt. You-Know-Who isn't evil, Potter. He's only some man trapped in the illusion you yourself are trapped in. Give up, Potter. Save **yourself**."

An empty awkward silence filled the room. Harry sat there, looking at his hands. After a while he spoke up.

"I can't, Malfoy. If I give in, even for a second, I'm allowing someone else to win. As long as I keep my disillusionment, Malfoy, so can others. And I can't take that away from them. Not now, Malfoy. They need it. It's the only hope they have." Sadness and grief flowed through his words. 

"So _what_, Potter. Isn't it enough that people are relying on you every second? That you have to a certain way – perfect, innocent, kind, undefiled; yet knowledgeable, untouchable, undefeatable, **_inhuman_**? I think, Potter, that you almost gave in to the temptation when you kissed me yesterday. You wanted to do something that you weren't supposed to do. Something naughty, something that no one would ever imagine that façade of yours doing. You wanted something, Potter. Something that was forbidden. Haven't you ever heard that Muggle saying? Oh, what was it? Oh, yes. 'The perpetrator always returns to the scene of the crime.'. That's what you were doing, wasn't it Potter? Returning to the scene of the crime. And you just happened to see me trying to kill myself. That's when your hero reflex kicked in. So you've stayed here to make sure I'm fine and I don't tell anyone about your little, or perhaps not so little, _slip_."

The silence was deafening. Small sounds like the distant squeak of a chair and rustle of clothing sounded like a gunshot in the quiet.

"Who are you Malfoy?" Harry spoke up, startling Draco. He wasn't looking at Draco, but at the wall, as if trying to discern the history of it.

"Who am I? Why, that's an absurd question, Potter. I'm Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy."

"No. Not the name everyone knows you by. Your true name. What are your true values, Malfoy? What do you feel deep down in your soul?"

"I feel…alone, Potter. Much as I imagine you yourself feel like. I want many things. But just because I may wish that things be another way does not make them true. My true name is one that I would wish on no one to hear. It is full of suffering, pain, fear, and ultimate loneliness. I wonder, though. If we were to sound our names out at the exact moment, would they be synonymous? Would our names be one in the same, a single being of despair?"

"I think Malfoy, that they might. Both of us, mortal enemies, two different sides, have more in common with each other than we do with the people on the sides we fight for."

"Perhaps, Potter, it was destiny that made you kiss me. That one second when you saw yourself looking out through my eyes."

"Perhaps."

"Do you see yourself now?"

Harry didn't have the chance to reply. Soft lips challenged his own chapped ones, tugging and pulling. He gave in, battling with a passion he had never felt before. He put his rage, his anger, his fear, all into that kiss, biting and licking. He could feel blood – he didn't know whose it was, his or Malfoy's, and he didn't care, as long as he could be closer to the outlet of his self-pity. He felt a hand on his waist, pulling him closer, up onto the hospital bed. He straddled the body beneath him, and felt the him underneath him arch up to meet him. A hot dagger of moistness invaded his mouth and he and Malfoy were battling ferociously to get deeper inside each other. Harry threaded his hands through Malfoy's silken cool hair, suddenly yanking Malfoy closer. He felt Malfoy moan, a rumble that reached every part of his body. He could feel Malfoy's one usable hand reach underneath his shirt and caress his spine, making him arch against Malfoy in pleasure. They broke apart, each gasping wildly for breath, their faces flushed. 

"Good god, Potter. Nearly ripped my hair out." Draco said once he caught his breath. Harry was still straddling Draco's body, looking down at Draco. He collapsed on top of Draco, causing him to let out a loud 'unmph'. Draco could feel Harry's body shaking as he buried his head deep into Draco's neck.

"What the hell, Potter? What's wrong?" Draco asked, a note of concern threading it's way through his voice. Harry looked up, laughter coloring his features, his face broken out in the widest and most care-free grin Draco had ever seen. Harry giggled softy, his body shaking with laughter. 

"What?!" Draco nearly yelled, furious at being left out of the loop, small as it was.

"Imagine…if—if Madame Pomphrey had walked in on us!" Harry burst out in another round of almost-silent giggles, shaking the bed. 

"Potter, please. You're creating a lot of undue friction at the moment." That just caused Harry to laugh even harder. "All right, all right. It would have been sort of funny in Madame Pomphrey had walked in on us." He looked down at Harry, who was looked up at him, laughter and mirth dancing merrily in his eyes, his mouth stretched out in a broad grin. 

"She would have run screaming to the nearest Professor to help her lift the curse off. Which would be Professor Snape."

A pause and Draco and Harry burst out laughing and the image of Professor Snape seeing them in such a 'compromising' position. After a while the laughter died down, leaving in it's wake a companionable and warm silence. Harry was resting his head on Draco's chest, Draco leaning his head on Harry's.

"I think I should get off you soon, Malfoy. I have to get back to Common Room and get some sleep. Classes tomorrow and all."

"Of course. I will see you again though, right Potter? I did enjoy our 'discussion'." Draco winked at Harry.

"Right." Harry grinned. He hopped off the bed, kissed Malfoy quickly on the lips, and headed off towards the door. When he reached it, he swung around and blew Malfoy a kiss. "See you later, Malfoy." And he was gone.

Draco stared at the door for a while, the image of Harry Potter blowing him a farewell kiss still imprinted vividly in his mind. After a while, he sighed and smiled slightly, falling asleep with a faint happy smile imprinted on his face.


End file.
